Trumbo was pegged to land a contract of at least four years and somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 to $60 million. That market never materialized, and the Orioles didn't bid against themselves. Trumbo's deal with the Orioles includes some deferred money because of course it does, but that has little effect on what seems like a solid signing.

Did you want the Orioles to sign a quality, full-time outfielder? Would you have been fine with signing Chris Carter for the DH spot and using that money to beef up the rotation? Will this signing leave enough money or roster space for the O's to add a speedy, defensive outfielder type, like Michael Bourn? Those are legitimate concerns. But the Orioles went with the power hitter who they are familiar with, and they didn't have to pay a ridiculous price. In fact, the O's may be looking at a relative bargain.

Anyway, who's ready for more Trumbombs? Enjoy this YouTube highlight reel below of all 47 of Trumbo's 2016 taters.

11 comments:

Roger
said...

I hate to say it but the O's haven't changed much (just replaced some moving parts) and I feel they've gotten incrementally better than last year. Miley should be better than Gallardo, hopefully. Gausman and Bundy more experienced. LOOGY problem solved. Kim more established. Castillo for Wieters (wash and cheaper). Smith/Tavarez for Alvarez/Reimold (an improvement at least on defense). Addition of Mancini as RH DH. Most of the replacement players are cheaper. This team should be at least as competitive as last year and might hit lefties better. If Caleb and O'Day can stay healthy then we'll be better.

I agree with Roger, continuity is rare in Baltimore, especially at a reasonable rate (j'accuse Davis, Ubaldo etc), and while I trust DD to unearth some dud year slugger, which as we remember the Trumbomb replaced the Cruz Missile, eventually the luck would run dry. At least with Trumbo he has a proven record, and even if he dips OPACY should give him enough of a leg up. I like Trumbo being there a whole lot more than the other names that have been thrown around. To go with Roger, replacing Wieters with Castillo, at least from an Offensive standpoint is a goer. Corner outfield is a problem, but that's fast becoming an Oriole tradition. Bring on 2017.

Didn't they just get more of what they already had, at the expense of things they desperately needed and have nowhere on the horizon? The team splits were bad and got worse, the outfield defense remains awful, with not a single outfielder better than zero, Trey Mancini is gone, despite potentially being able to do everything the Trumbo does, for league minimum, and and then there's the pitching .Yes, Trumbo is inexpensive, and yes, he can be traded at mid season if he's not horrible. But he will only be traded if the team is horrible and he is not and the former appears to be more likely than not.

Did they get more of what they already had? Yes, if you're just talking about a power hitter who strikes out a lot. But also no, unless you already consider Mancini a definitive, productive full-time major league hitter. I'm also not convinced yet Mancini won't find his way on the roster in a bench role, but he still classifies as an unknown. That's a lot to ride on with a must-win roster.

There aren't a bunch of great starting pitching options out there. Would Jason Hammel be a big enough upgrade? Perhaps they could still pull off such a signing. But yes, the starting pitching is thin. It has been for a long time.

The same goes for the outfield defense. They wanted to improve it. They didn't do that, unless you just view the positive of Trumbo not seeing nearly 800 innings in the outfield again. Smith is not great, but he is not Trumbo either.

The issue vs. LHP is important, but I'm not ready to write Trumbo off in that regard either. Last year he was very bad against LHP, and so was the team as a whole. That's going to happen some years to a team who has right-handed regulars like Jones and Schoop who are not productive against opposite-handed throwers.

Also: "They could have got Carter and Alvarez together for cheaper than Trumbo alone! Please, put that OF glove in the schredder!"

No team really has the luxury of keeping platoon DH-only players on the roster. Cheap or not, that's just not realistic and a poor way to construct a roster. If the Orioles didn't have Chris Davis, that would be one thing. But they do.

Sorry, to clarify, I imagine that Trumbo will see the field much less in 2017 thanks to potentially a Smith/Rickard platoon. I think the Trumbo signing is even better as he will be shifted finally tomore DH'ing

Contact Camden Depot

We look forward to your questions as well as any suggestions you may have for us.

Additionally, we are always looking for new contributors, so if you want to write for the Depot then e-mail us with an example column that you think fits the tone of the site.

Contributors

Jon Shepherd - Founder/Editor@CamdenDepotStarted Camden Depot in the summer of 2007. By day, a toxicologist and by night a baseball analyst. His work is largely located on this site, but may pop up over at places like ESPN or Baseball Prospectus.

Matt Kremnitzer - Assistant Editor@mattkremnitzerMatt joined Camden Depot in early 2013. His work has been featured on ESPN SweetSpot and MASNsports.com.

Patrick Dougherty - Writer@pjd0014Patrick joined Camden Depot in the fall of 2015, following two years writing for Baltimore Sports & Life. He is interested in data analysis and forecasting, and cultivates those skills with analysis aimed at improving the performance of the Orioles (should they ever listen).

Nate Delong - Writer@OriolesPGNate created and wrote for Orioles Proving Ground prior to joining Camden Depot in the middle of 2013. His baseball resume includes working as a scorer for Baseball Info Solutions and as a Video Intern for the Baltimore Orioles. His actual resume is much less interesting.

Matt Perez - Writer@FanOfLaundryMatt joined Camden Depot after the 2013 season. He is a data analyst/programmer in his day job and uses those skills to write about the Orioles and other baseball related topics.

Joe Reisel - WriterJoe has followed the Norfolk Tides now for 20 seasons. He currently serves as a Tides GameDay datacaster for milb.com and as a scorer for Baseball Info Solutions (BIS). He is computer programmer/analyst by day.

Joe Wantz - WriterJoe is a baseball and Orioles fanatic. In his spare time, he got his PhD in political science and works in data and analytics in Washington DC.